An Obligation to Vote

by John Manimas Medeiros

 

I propose that in a democratic republic, where elections are the means to implement self-government, and majority rule determines who exercises the power of government, voting is a fundamental obligation of every citizen, similar to the basic obligation to obey the laws intended to protect everyone from harm.  I also propose that there is a significant difference between "mandatory" voting and an obligation to vote.  "Mandatory" means a law that establishes voting is required, like having a vaccination is required to protect all citizens from disease, and stopping at a traffic light is required for public safety.  But an obligation to vote can be upheld and defended as a legal concept and a social value while still permitting a citizen the choice of not voting.  Therefore, I propose a law that states the main reason voting is a citizen obligation, and imposition of a reasonable fine for depriving the society as a whole of one's participation in the decision-making that is the source of authority in a democratic republic.  Enforcement of the obligation to vote is reasonable in the United States of America because of the Constitutional commitment of the federal government to guarantee a republican form of government to every member state.  Therefore, I propose the following type of law to establish and uphold mandatory voting:

 

Whereas self-government in a republic requires voter participation, and an accurate count of votes to establish majority rule is essential to a just exercise of power and fair delivery of the benefits of government, it is and shall be obligatory that every citizen vote subject to reasonable rules of eligibility.  The essential value of each vote is the accurate measurement of the majority of the voter population, therefore rendering a legitimate and fair apportionment of the police power and exercise of legislative authority.  Any and all defects in the precision of majority rule amount to defects in the fairness and legitimacy of the governing body.  Therefore, any citizen who chooses not to vote shall not be deemed to have committed a criminal offense but rather a small but important civil offense, namely, the offense of withdrawing from the act of participation that makes self-government possible and meaningful.  When a large minority of citizens do not vote, the measure of majority rule fails, diminishing the legitimacy of the governing body.  And if all citizens did not vote, the goal of self-government would be entirely defeated and impossible to achieve.  Because the participatory act of voting is the necessary requirement of self-government, a citizen who chooses not to vote has withheld the essential element that embodies legitimacy in the enterprise of self-government.  Therefore, every citizen who votes shall be provided with a receipt and record as proof of civic participation and every citizen lacking in that civic participation shall pay an agency fee as a tax for receiving the benefits of self-government without joining in the common, necessary task of voting.  The agency fee shall be ten dollars US hereafter, until changed by the Congress, but shall not be changed more than once in a five-year period.  When meeting the citizen obligation to pay taxes, a citizen who verifies that they voted in the previous election shall be granted a tax credit equal to the agency fee for failure to vote.  The Congress shall have the power to impose and collect the non-voter agency fee from citizens who do not owe taxes.  As set forth herein, the obligation to vote is the minimal obligation for civic participation in a republican form of government, the civic participation that is necessary to accomplish the legitimate exercise of governing power and to maintain the benefits of self-government.